


dripping morning mist

by sehunagenda



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Blood, Ghosts, It's not a suicide, M/M, Mentioned suicide, Murder, The major character death is pre-fic, Thriller, but it's mentioned, mentioned death, mentioned sexual abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:53:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23236516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sehunagenda/pseuds/sehunagenda
Summary: Sehun has always been able to see ghosts, but he has never encountered before a ghost as dangerous as Minseok.
Relationships: Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Oh Sehun
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33
Collections: SEXIUniverse 3rd Verse Collection





	dripping morning mist

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: #62
> 
> Author's note: First of all, thank you mods for the fest, and thanks to the prompter!!! I hope you like it ^^
> 
> Second, please, I can't stress this enough: read the tags. There's NO actual death in the fic, but if you are sensitive with some of those topics, please be careful!
> 
> With that said, I hope you readers enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writting it!!

Sehun liked eating or working in crowded and lousy places, even if he was usually alone. If he was surrounded by noise, by loud people chatting and laughing, it was much easier to ignore _them_. To ignore the _others_. It was easier to not hear their voices, even if they were constantly there.

It’s not like Sehun didn’t have friends… He had some. His flatmate, Baekhyun, was kind of his friend, even if he was sometimes a nuisance. He often invited him over to have drinks, to study, to hang out… Sehun was grateful for that. He knew Kyungsoo from class. The boy was even quieter than Sehun, which meant that they worked well together. He had invited Sehun to his house a few times already, cooking for him. And, of course, there was Kim Jongin, his best friend. Unfortunately, he was studying far from him, so they didn’t see each other much. Sehun missed him like hell.

Jongin knew about him, knew about the _others_. They knew each other since they were kids, Jongin had approached the weird kid and befriended him without hesitation. It had been years until Sehun had confided in him about his… issue. Jongin had believed him quickly; they had been best friends for a long time, and Jongin already knew that something was wrong, but didn’t want to pressure Sehun.

He didn’t count anyone else as his friend. Sehun didn’t like people, because being around people meant being in constant alert. The others never left him alone, so when Sehun was tired or relaxed, sometimes he forgot they weren’t visible to others. That only Sehun could see and hear them. When he was a child, he was thrilled, having a lot of friends who kept him company when he was alone. Until he saw what some of them were capable of. His parents had adopted a cat, you see. That cat was Sehun’s more appreciated companion. The others didn’t appreciate that so much; he had never had another cat anymore.

Whatever he did, wherever he went, Sehun was never truly alone. Always followed by _them_ , by their voices. When he was alone it was easier for them to notice that he knew, that he heard them, saw them. So, they sometimes were nice. Some of them only needed to talk, craving some company. In a few occasions, they asked for his help; Sehun was too weak to say no, ending up in all kind of weird situations.

They were spirits, ghosts, whatever you want. Wandering around the world without company. If Sehun could help some of them to move on, to finally have their rest, he would do it, even if it was tiresome. The angry spirits, though, they didn’t usually ask. They caused hazards, that Sehun could easily ignore, if he wasn’t a good kid. Sehun hated being good, because it meant dealing with dangerous situations.

But, he had gotten better. At ignoring them, that’s it. After starting college and losing Jongin’s physical support – even if his moral support was still there – Sehun had learnt that it was easier pretending he was a normal kid when he was surrounded by noise.

Sometimes, though, he ended up in hardly avoidable situations, like in that moment. Finishing his class activity sooner than expected, his teacher had sent him to pick up some papers from her desk. Her office was in the same building, up the stairs, so Sehun started to climb them. He could use the elevator and save himself the problem, if he hadn’t some bad experiences with ghosts in elevators. Better to avoid them since then.

When he had already climbed two sets of stairs, Sehun heard a noise. A loud crash, like a mirror falling to the floor and breaking into a thousand pieces. He turned around, startled, but saw nothing. His heart was beating fast, an adrenaline rush going through his body. It was okay. Probably something broke in a classroom or office.

Sehun walked again, a little faster this time. He arrived to the office floor, hurrying to find where his teacher’s was. All the doors had little nameplates on them, so it wasn’t a hard task. His hand was already reaching the knob, when a suddenly the air turned cold. Sehun shivered, a chill going down his spine. That wasn’t a good sign. Cold usually meant ghosts.

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the knob again, founding it completely frozen and unmoving. Sehun closed his eyes. He found himself a trickster one. Those were only tricks, used to mess with his mind. If he closed his eyes and relaxed, the illusion would disappear. Sehun snapped his eyes open, and opened the door. Completely normal, perfect.

The office was pretty neat, so the papers he needed should be easy to find. Next to the desk, there was a full body mirror. Sehun looked at it, seeing not only his reflection, but another one behind him. He blinked, the image behind him gone. Sehun didn’t even flinch. The best he could do was to ignore the ghost.

He took the papers – they were the only thing on the desk, easy – moving quickly, hoping nothing else would occur. Of course, luck was not on his side, and the mirror broke. He couldn’t help it, looking at the floor where the broken pieces were. It was a mistake. When he looked up, the office had changed completely. It was now a mess, things broken and scattered on the floor, but what horrified Sehun was the blood. There was a body, obviously a dead one, just next to him, and blood all over the scene.

Sehun breathed in and out. It was all an illusion. A gruesome bloody illusion, not real. Even when he knew that, Sehun was scared. He knew what ghost were capable of if angered, and he also knew that usually ghosts who were just bored didn’t do this. They preferred other kind of pranks. So, what was this?

“Should I kill you already?” a masculine voice sounded, probably thinking that it couldn’t be heard. “How should I do it… Last one was a robbery, the one before an accident… Should I make you a suicide? What do you think pretty human?”

The ghost obviously wasn’t expecting an answer, so Sehun didn’t give him one. He was fucking afraid. In all his years of hearing and seeing ghosts, he had never been the target of an angry one.

The ghost materialized in front of him. They did that sometimes, the more powerful ones – okay, usually the angry ones. It was like that. He was short, definitely shorter than Sehun. A little older than him when he died, with big eyes, kinda feline. He was wearing clothes that his grandpa would wear, but not too old. He was maybe twenty years dead, at most. The thing that got Sehun’s attention was that there were no wounds. No blood, nothing. Usually angry spirits were the result of bloody murders, seeking revenge. But this one was completely clean.

And he was smart, because he instantly noticed Sehun’s eyes scan his body searching for something like that. “What does this mean?” he hissed, taking a step forward, getting all over Sehun’s space. Sehun couldn’t take it anymore, taking himself a step back. He was terrified. “A human can see me? Do you hear me as well, little one?”

Sehun nodded slowly, after thinking for a second if pretend not to hear him would be a better idea. “Yes” he rasped, holding the urge to close his eyes, knowing it would be a bad idea now that the ghost knew that Sehun knew.

“This is new” the ghost said, patting his cheek. God, he was handsome, even if Sehun hadn’t noticed it at first, he couldn’t deny it. “A little medium right here, by chance” he stopped, keeping a finger on Sehun’s cheek, tracing some random pattern. “Or is it not by chance? Has someone sent you?”

Sehun quickly shook his head, alarmed. “No one has sent me” he said with a trembling voice “I’m just a student. I came to- to take some papers for my teacher”

The ghost looked at him intently, and smiled. It was a cold smile that Sehun didn’t like one bit. “What’s your name?” he asked, sweetly. Sehun gulped. He didn’t want to give the ghost his name, not knowing what he could do with it. “Listen, kid” the ghost said, taking another step forward, clutching Sehun’s shirt to avoid the other stepping back “whether this ends good or badly for you is only in your hands. I would cooperate if I were you. I asked for your name”

“Sehun” Sehun answered, his heart about to explode, beating faster that never “My name is Oh Sehun”

“Alright, Sehun” the ghost said, with a satisfied grin “I think I’m going to have some fun with you, what do you think?”

“Please” Sehun begged “I don’t-“

“Shhhhshh” the ghost hushed him, putting a finger on his lips, his other hand still clutching Sehun’s shirt. Sehun felt tears pricking in his eyes. “My name is Minseok. We’ll see each other again”

Then, he disappeared. Without him, the office was just like before. Neat and tidy, without a body, without blood. Sehun fell to the floor, tears coming out his eyes. He sobbed, letting all the anxiety out. A few minutes passed before he could compose himself. After that, he got up, fixed himself in the mirror, and took the papers with him. He was alone in this, after all.

The rest of the day went quickly, Sehun was extremely calm about the situation he just lived. Yes, he was used to ghosts, some of them better some of them worse; still, this hadn’t happened before. He should be trembling, scared, crying even… None of that was happening. He just got home as always, his flatmate already there.

“Hi, hi” Baekhyun chirped from their open kitchen, approaching the counter to look at Sehun. He was wearing an apron, baking something that smelt good.

“What are you doing?” Sehun deadpanned, making Baekhyun blush.

“Just baking something, you know”

“You’ve never baked before” Sehun said, dropping onto the couch. “Are you trying to impress someone?”

“Maybe” Baekhyun answered, turning so he wouldn’t be looking at Sehun. “Or maybe I’ve decided that someone should learn to cook here once and for all. All we have is takeout and delivery, or instant ramen.”

“Damn, for once, you’re right” Sehun mumbled while opening his laptop. “Okay, let me try whatever you bake”

“Will do, don’t worry” Baekhyun said, returning to his cooking affairs.

Sehun hesitated, looking at his phone. Maybe he should text Jongin, his friend always knew how to calm him… He sent him a text in the end, just a “Hey Jongin, call me when you have a min”.

Jongin was probably busy at that time with dance practice, so Sehun locked his phone, returning to his laptop. This wasn’t the first time that he had to do research on some ghost that asked for his help, so he worked fast. Even if he weren’t as experienced as he was, finding Minseok was easy.

He had died several years ago, as Sehun had suspected. The official cause of death was suicide, he had overdosed himself, but Sehun knew better. This was the angrier ghost he had ever found, so this couldn’t simply be a suicide, but most likely a murder. Sehun sighed, knowing that he should help the ghost, even if he seemed to want him dead.

Jongin finally called, Sehun picking up as fast as he could, going to his room so Baekhyun wouldn’t hear their conversation.

“Hey, Sehunnie” Jongin’s voice was heard through the phone, and suddenly Sehun felt the urge to cry. He missed his best friend so much.

“I miss you so much” were Sehun’s first words, Jongin’s irritating laugh sounding too loud.

“Did you call me for that? I miss you too. I can almost see you pouting” his friend teased, but Sehun noticed that his voice was about to crack, Jongin was a sentimental, just like himself.

“No, I didn’t call you for that, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true” Sehun sighed. “I need your advice”

“Ghosty business?” Jongin guessed, he was somewhat smart after all.

“Yeah… I had an encounter with a ghost today” Sehun told him. “It was… not nice”

“Not nice? Like the ghost twins that didn’t talk at all, just observe you? Or like that weeping woman that didn’t let an entire neighbourhood sleep?”

“Worse” Sehun sighed “It was an angry spirit”

“Uh oh” Jongin sounded worried “How angry?”

“Very angry, Jongin. I thought I was going to die… He was gonna kill me before he realized that I could see him, that literally saved my life”

“What the fuck, Sehun” Jongin almost yelled “Tell me you ran from him”

“Of course I did” Sehun said, exasperated “He implied that there were other victims before me, I was so scared…”

“But…?” Jongin prompted him. There was always a but with Sehun.

“I think he was murdered, several years ago” Sehun explained “The official cause of death is suicide, but it doesn’t make sense. Suicide ghosts are usually sad, not this level of angry. He is trying to get revenge…”

“Sehun, no”

“I didn’t say anything!” Sehun complained.

“I know what you are thinking. Stay away from him.”

“Jongin…”

“You can’t help every passing soul you see, Sehunnie” Jongin implored “I don’t want you to put yourself at risk”

“He needs my help” Sehun softly said “And… I don’t know. He could find me, I don’t know the extent of his abilities, and I prefer to be ready. What if I can help him move on? I could avoid another useless death”

“Or, you could end up being dead yourself” Jongin cried. “Please…”

“I’m sorry” Sehun said, feeling a little bit sad, knowing that Jongin worried about him.

“Just… Be careful, Hunnie” Jongin implored “Call me if you need anything. Hell, I’ll drive there if you want me to.”

“No, don’t come” Sehun quickly said “I just needed to talk about this with someone. You are busy with your dance group, and I know you have a couple exams this week.”

“You are more important than my exams” Jongin grunted “But okay. Promise me that if you need me, you’ll tell me. No hiding things, alright?”

Sehun nodded, even if Jongin couldn’t see him. “Alright. Thank you again, for listening”

“I love you, Hunnie” Jongin said “Please call me again soon, I miss talking with you”

“I will, I promise” Sehun laughed, and before hanging up, he added “I love you too, Nini”

Talking with Jongin always helped him, made him feel safer, like Jongin would be always protecting him. It made zero sense, but it was enough for Sehun. He left his room, returning to his laptop. Whatever Baekhyun was cooking smelt fucking good.

“I hope you are done with that” Sehun grumbled “Because it’s making me hungry”

Baekhyun’s face lit up, smiling brightly. “Yeah! It’s actually cooked already, but it has to rest a little before being served”

Sehun hummed, happy with the answer. “Nice. Are we expecting someone else for dinner, or just us?”

“Nope” Baekhyun said. He was already cleaning the kitchen, messy because of the cooking. “Just us two, honey”

Sehun shuddered “Please don’t call me that again”

Baekhyun just cackled, happy to annoy his flatmate as always. Sehun pretended to be disgusted when Baekhyun quickly approached him to give him a wet kiss on the cheek. “Disgusting” he said.

“You love it” Baekhyun said, smiling.

They had dinner – it was just as good as Sehun expected, chatted a little and then Baekhyun retreated to his room to finish up some assignments he had, which left Sehun in the living room alone with his computer.

It was fine, at first, as always. He had already done his research on Minseok, so he was actually working on his own assignments. However, when night came and the room temperature became chilly, Sehun remembered the cold he had felt with Minseok, and suddenly got nervous.

He knew that Minseok wasn’t there, ghosts were bound to one place, couldn’t just freely go to his apartment to terrorize him… Still, Sehun couldn’t help it, he felt afraid. It was like Minseok was going to appear at any time, was going to hold him again, threaten him. Kill him.

His hand hitched to take the phone, call Jongin and ask him to come. He had dealt with some scary ghosts, even if none as scary as Minseok, and Jongin always helped him sleep. But no, Jongin wasn’t there with him, he had to manage alone.

A part of him thought of going to Baekhyun’s room, but it would be too weird, they were not that close, and Sehun was a shy boy. He closed his laptop, sighing. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep, he knew that already, but it was worth a try, so he went to his room, got into his bed, and closed his eyes.

During two whole days, Sehun felt more nervous than ever, having to deal with a situation more dangerous than ever. He felt like Minseok was going to appear anytime, when Sehun wouldn’t be expecting him, and that made Sehun be alert all day, tiring him more than usual.

However, during those two days, Minseok didn’t appear, a strange thing, because ghosts were usually so bored that they jumped to the opportunity of some change in their lives. Not Minseok, though. Sehun was expecting him to appear, trying to terrorize him, but he didn’t. Sehun used this time to search through different news sites, gathering information about Minseok’s death, but there wasn’t much, just the typical friends and family talking about how Minseok didn’t seem to have any problem, how they couldn’t believe he committed suicide… Well, maybe they were right, after all.

As Sehun had predicted, it was when he was in the bathroom between two classes, using five minutes of free time he had, when suddenly the atmosphere changed. Time seemed to slow down, the water coming out of the faucet froze and everything became chilly. Sehun shuddered, not because of the cold, no, for he knew who was coming.

The boy closed his eyes, the mirror of the bathroom misty, not showing anything. He could feel him, Minseok behind him, but he didn’t dare to turn, even less when a slow cold hand touched his neck, resting there for a few seconds before going up his face, caressing it before grabbing it painfully.

“Open your eyes”. Minseok’s smooth voice sent a chill downwards Sehun’s spine. He sounded cold, but angry. Not angry at Sehun, no, it was a subtle anger, barely noticeable, but Sehun knew his kind, knew how angry ghosts got, knew what to search in their voices, and oh God, Minseok was one of the angrier ghost he had ever encountered. “Open your eyes, boy, before I claw them out” he added, sweetly, poisonous.

Sehun obeyed, he knew better than to disobey Minseok, he knew what ghosts could do, knew what Minseok had done. The mirror wasn’t misty anymore, it could have been a normal bathroom if not for the still frozen water. Minseok was behind him, a little to the side, looking at his reflection with a deadly smirk.

“It would have been wise to fly, far from here” Minseok whispered in his ear. Sehun wanted to close his eyes again, but he had to be strong, he had to prove Minseok that he wasn’t scared, even if he was. “Maybe you thought I wasn’t real?” the ghost continued, his other hand going to Sehun’s back, rubbing him there, sending yet another chill to the tall boy.

“I know you are real, Kim Minseok” Sehun said, noticing how the movement of Minseok’s hand stopped.

“Then why didn’t you run?” Minseok asked, his voice dripping coldness but also curiosity, still holding Sehun’s face with more strength that he should be capable of.

Sehun took a deep breath. It was now or never. “I know what happened to you” he said, seeing Minseok squinting trough their reflection. “I know everyone thinks it was suicide, but it was not. You didn’t kill yourself, someone killed you, right? You were murdered”

The hand on his face disappeared, along with the rest of Minseok. For a moment, there was only silence, until suddenly a strong wind unleashed, shattering the big mirror in a thousand pieces. Minseok wasn’t there, no, but his voice could be heard, a potent hiss that sounded like Sehun was hearing it from inside his brain.

“What do you know, you pathetic human?” the voice, Minseok, was saying. “Do you think I will spare your life just because you know how I died?” Minseok laughed, an ugly, bitter laugh, before going on. “You will die, just like the rest, and I’ll make sure your death is the most painful a human is capable of feeling”

“I can help you!” Sehun screamed, the wind muffling his words. “You can kill me afterwards, Minseok, but don’t you want to rest?”

As sudden as it had appeared, the wind stopped. The mirror wasn’t broken anymore, the water was running free again – Sehun closed the faucet, just in case. When he looked up, Minseok was sitting on the sink, looking like a normal human being, not like a murderous ghost that was just threatening to kill him.

Oh, but Sehun knew better. Even if he looked calm, he could see the storm in his eyes. One wrong move, and Sehun would be dead, that was sure. But… maybe he had a chance.

“You are strange” the ghost said, his rage contained for the moment. “You think you know what you are talking about, but you don’t”

“Let me help you” Sehun begged. He wanted to help Minseok, the ghost was suffering and it pained Sehun. He had felt his rage, yes, but inside that rage there was also a great pain. Minseok was trapped there, and Sehun wanted to help him go on.

“You can’t help me” Minseok mocked him “No one could help me while I was still alive, what makes you think you can help me now?”

It was meant to mock Sehun, but it gave him an opening that he could use. “You were alive then” Sehun said “Whoever set this up, they were expecting you to be alive, until you weren’t. Now? You are dead. No one expects war from a dead person”

“You aren’t making any sense” Minseok growled.

“You want revenge” Sehun said, feeling already calmer now that his life wasn’t so clearly in danger. “You think you want revenge, but your soul seeks justice”

Minseok laughed, clearly amused by Sehun. “No, I don’t care about that anymore, I want people to suffer the same thing I suffered” he spat, angry. Angry at life, angry at death. Minseok may say that, but Sehun knew the truth, because ghosts always sought justice for their souls, to stop being trapped in the human realm.

“I can help you” Sehun repeated himself “You didn’t die so long ago, we can catch the murderer, find out who they were”

Minseok grinned, like Sehun was saying something totally stupid, like he was a child making a fool of himself. “I don’t want to find out who he was, because I already know” he said, again a bitter tone in his voice, angry, hopeless, a little amused probably at Sehun for thinking he could make a difference.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened, a boy Sehun didn’t know came inside. Sehun quickly pretended to be washing his hands, Minseok still seated on the sink, but this time watching the other boy.

“You know what could be funnier?” Minseok said, jumping to the floor, observing the other boy like a predator circling his prey. “I could kill this sad excuse of life right now, right in front of your eyes, and you could do nothing to save him”

Sehun tensed, not expecting that. He couldn’t answer, would seem crazy to other, who was washing his face, fixing his hair. /Please don’t/ he vocalized, trembling a little. It was one thing to expose himself to that kind of danger, but not another person.

A smile appeared on Minseok’s face, always with the upper hand. “I’ll let him live” he mumbled “But you would do well remembering the power I have, Sehun. I could kill anyone with a snap of my fingers. I could kill you, but that wouldn’t be that much fun… I wouldn’t make me angry if I were you, pretty human”

And with that, he was gone. A few tears rolled down Sehun’s cheeks, the boy unable to contain them, all the anxiety and panic surfacing in that moment. The other boy looked alarmed for a moment.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked, a tiny frown of worry forming in his face.

“Yes, I-“ Sehun started, breathing a moment to not crumble down. “Just exams, you know…”

The boy laughed a little, approaching Sehun to hold him, which Sehun appreciated because he was about to fall down. “I understand you. Let me accompany you to the cafeteria, let’s get you something to drink”

They boy – Sehun learnt his name was Chanyeol – was nice, chipper, maybe a little too loud, but Sehun was used to Baekhyun so that wasn’t a big deal, and he seemed to know about everyone and everything. The man was a walking gossip centre, the entire time he was with Sehun talking about people in campus, students and professors, and everyone. In other circumstances, Sehun would hated him, but in that moment it was just the kind of useless chatter that he needed.

The encounter with Minseok had left him shaken, a kind of mental stress he wasn’t used to. Yes, ghosts were always a stressing matter, and tired Sehun more than anything in the world, but just thinking about Minseok made him tense. Still, after the conversation they had, Sehun had learned a lot about the ghost, much more than Minseok would have liked to let Sehun know.

Oh, years and years of dealing with ghosts came in handy, and Sehun was an expert reading ghost behaviour, and Minseok was angry and bitter and sad. He was angry at life, angry at the world, he had been killed and everyone had treated the case as a suicide. He was bitter, so bitter about something, and Sehun suspected there was more to it than just a murder. Minseok knew who the culprit was, after all.

The thing that had affected Sehun more, was the sadness. It had been difficult to notice, between all the anger and the cold threats, but Minseok was sad. He was a fairly recent ghost, after all, probably hurt by everyone who had abandoned his case, abandoned him. He hadn’t had time to learn to cope with his friends and family moving on without him, and was hard.

Sehun should run, transfer himself to some other college, maybe to Jongin’s, run away and never face Minseok again… He couldn’t do that. There was some magnetic pull that made him want to help Minseok. Sehun was dumb, he was too good, Jongin had told him that a thousand times, but still, he wasn’t going to abandon Minseok. Something about him, about his voice, about all the feelings he had bottled up inside him, drew Sehun. He had to help him, there was no way out, even if Minseok didn’t want his help.

He tried to avoid the building were Minseok seemed to reside. Fortunately, he only had a couple classes there, so he spoke to his teachers, explaining them that a situation had come up and he wouldn’t be able to attend their lectures for a few days. They were pretty understanding – Sehun felt bad about lying to them, but at least he now had permission to stay away, and do his research.

The library was always too quiet, so Sehun couldn’t go there, and Baekhyun wasn’t almost never home, so in the end, Sehun spent most of his time in the campus cafeteria, with his laptop opened, trying to find any piece of information that could help him with Minseok.

He had names, his family and a few friends, but it would be weird to contact any of them, when several years had passed already. He looked up what Minseok was studying, courses couldn’t have changed that much right? It proved to be a difficult task, but Sehun ended up with a list of possible teachers that Minseok had, and even classmates. Now, he had too many names and no idea of what to do with them.

Classmates would be probably useless, at least for now, but he kept the information just in case. Teachers, professors… Maybe some of them were still there. If Minseok’s spirit appeared in that building it could mean two things: he had died there, he had spent a great time of his life there, or it was an important place to him. Given that the official notice of his death said that he had been found in his apartment, the building must have been where Minseok had the majority of his classes.

In the end, the one who kept him company the most was Chanyeol. The man seemed to have taken a liking to Sehun, even if Sehun didn’t understand why. They had each other’s numbers now, and Chanyeol texted him frequently, usually to ask him if he was going to be at the cafeteria; the answer was almost always yes.

Perhaps it was pity, perhaps Chanyeol was too nice for his own good, but he always ended up with Sehun, chatting with him, drinking coffee or tea, or bringing him snacks.

Five days after the bathroom incident, Chanyeol was just doing the chatting as always when something caught his attention. He looked at Sehun’s laptop, then at Sehun. “Why are you searching about Kim Minseok?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Sehun felt himself blush.

“I… I was curious. Do you know who he was?” he answered. Chanyeol answered an ‘obviously yeah, please Sehun’ before looking at him expectantly, so Sehun continued. “I don’t think it was a suicide” he whispered, as if someone could hear him.

“Oh, it wasn’t a suicide” Chanyeol said, also in a low voice. “A lot of people thought it was a murder”

Sehun nodded, of course Chanyeol would know about that, he knew about everything. “That’s what I thought. But why? And who?”

“I’m friends with a friend of his cousin” Chanyeol muttered “They think… He was having problems with one of his teachers, professor Kwon. And it is well known that professor Kwon is important, maybe the most important person in campus”

“So… Professor Kwon?” Was it that easy? Sehun knew who professor Kwon was, hadn’t a class with him, but as Chanyeol had said the man was important.

Chanyeol doubted before talking. “I don’t know, man. I know for sure that professor Kwon is shitty, that’s true” he said.

“Shitty how? I haven’t had him, so I don’t know”

“He thinks he is above anyone else” Chanyeol started “But if it were only that… No, there’s a reason girls don’t want to go on private tutoring with him”

Sehun grimaced at that. “Wow, that’s disgusting”

“Yeah, and I know some friends that had issues with him because of that…”

“You think Minseok…?”

“I mean, the man likes young girls, but maybe Minseok was pretty enough?” Chanyeol said. Yes, Minseok was pretty, prettier that any girl in Sehun’s eyes, but he didn’t think that was the reason.

“Why kill him then?” Sehun whispered “It had to be something else”

Chanyeol shrugged. “I don’t know, but I pity him. There’s no way of going against professor Kwon. This cousin I told you? Friend of my friend? I know he hates him; he probably suspects of him as well”

Sehun bite his lip before asking Chanyeol “Give me his number. I need to speak to him”

Chanyeol found it weird, yes, but like the good nice friend that he was proving himself to be, he asked his friend for the phone number and gave it to Sehun. It was better than nothing, and Sehun couldn’t believe that he had been four days searching for Chanyeol to have the answer. Still, he had valuable information about Minseok’s classmates, so now he could search which of them shared a class under professor Kwon.

It was already late, so Sehun and Chanyeol said goodbye, and Sehun returned to his flat. There, Baekhyun was cooking again.

“You are so late these days” his flatmate observed, serving dinner already. “Do you have some exam soon?”

“Yeah, I have to do a lot of work, and I need to study.” It was true, even if that wasn’t exactly what Sehun was doing. “Lucky me, I have you making dinner every night now, huh?”

“Don’t push it” Baekhyun warned him, grinning “I’m just using you to experiment. Fortunately, it turns out I’m a great cook”

After dinner, Sehun returned to his laptop once again. He had the cousin’s – Kim Junmyeon – number, so why waste time? Maybe calling him wasn’t a good idea, so texting would have to do. Junmyeon answered right away, interested in what Sehun had to say, and they decided to meet up next morning.

Junmyeon was already waiting for him when Sehun arrived to the café they had accorded, even if Sehun himself was fairly early. Junmyeon was probably a few years older than Sehun, dressed in a full suit, looking more mature than Sehun could even dream. He suddenly got nervous, he was planning to tell Junmyeon the truth, what if the other didn’t believe him?

“You must be Sehun” Junmyeon said with a smile, his body a little tense. Sehun could understand him, he was tense as well. “I’m Junmyeon, Kim Junmyeon”

“It’s nice to meet you” Sehun said, a little shyly.

They both ordered something to drink, Junmyeon an expresso and Sehun a hot chocolate. They waited for the waiter to bring them the beverages, and once they had both sipped their own, Junmyeon talked.

“So… You seemed eager to talk about Minseok. Minseok’s case” he said. He was carefully choosing his words, probably not trusting Sehun yet.

Sehun nodded. It was now or never. “I know it wasn’t a suicide” he started, a determined look on his face. “He was killed.”

Junmyeon looked around, lowering his voice. “And what proof do you have of that?” he asked. “This is not a child’s game, boy”

“I don’t have proof. Not yet. But you do, right? You believe he was killed, and we both know who the killer was” Sehun whispered.

“This is dangerous” Junmyeon warned him. “We are talking about a powerful man, the evidence against him must be solid. So, why did you want to meet with me?”

“This is going to sound crazy” Sehun said. God, he really was crazy, trusting a complete stranger when only Jongin knew his secret. “I’ve talked with him”

“With whom?” Junmyeon looked alarmed at this, not the reaction Sehun was expecting. “With Professor K-“

“No, no, no” Sehun denied it immediately “With Minseok”

Junmyeon just stared at him for a moment, processing his words. “What do you mean with Minseok?”

“I’ve talked to him. I… He died, right? He died because someone murdered him and then made it look like a suicide. And now he is angry. He became a ghost, is unable to go on, and is fucking angry and-“ Sehun stopped, before saying that he had killed before. That was information he should keep to himself.

“You are crazy” Junmyeon observed, taking a sip of his coffee “Or this is an elaborated prank. Do you think it is funny to mess with this kind of things?”

Sehun sighed. “Look, I’m not crazy. This is just something I can do, see ghosts, and I met Minseok and I just want to help him” he said. “I understand this is something difficult to believe, but I can prove it to you.”

“Alright, I’ll take the bait, how would you prove it to me?” Junmyeon said, curious.

“Come with me. You can ask me a personal question about the two of you, and Minseok will answer. I will tell you what he said and you can believe me then”

Junmyeon looked at him, thinking, hesitating. “I have nothing to lose” he mumbled. “Lead the way.”

Of course, Sehun didn’t tell Junmyeon that Minseok would probably be angry because he had been missing for a few days. Instead of that he told him to wait for a minute outside the empty classroom Sehun would enter before coming in.

Like that, Sehun found himself in the cursed building. Junmyeon was with him, but the door in front of them, leading to a tiny classroom that wasn’t usually used, was scary.

“Alright” Sehun mumbled “I’ll go in. Just do as I told you, alright? I don’t think Minseok will appear if I’m not alone, and we need him to appear in the first place”

Junmyeon nodded, still not convinced about the whole issue, but he was tagging along, which was enough, because Sehun was telling the truth. Now, he needed Minseok to fucking appear.

Taking a deep breath, Sehun entered the classroom. He just pretended to do something, he had carried along his bag with some old class notes and blank papers. He didn’t know if it would be a convincing act, but he just needed Minseok to think he was alone.

He had just pulled out the notes and some pencil to write when he felt a familiar cold. This time, unlike the others, he wasn’t afraid. He knew he was still in danger, Minseok could kill him anytime, but Sehun had a mission now.

“Look who is here” Minseok whispered in his ear, sweet but bitter. “I thought you had disappeared”

“I didn’t” Sehun muttered “I was doing my research”

“I’ll have to admit I missed you” the ghost added, ignoring his words “The afterlife is boring, you have been the first person I’ve talked to. It’s a pity you have to die”

“I know who your killer is” Sehun said instead. Minseok’s hand, which as always had been roaming his body – his hand, his arm, his shoulder, his face –, stilled.

“Oh yes?”

“Professor Kwon” Sehun said, triumphant. Minseok just laughed at him.

“So what? What are you going to do? I would warn you that messing with him will get you killed but it will be of no use if I kill you first, right?” Minseok sounded deadly serious, and Sehun felt one of his hands on his neck, the other caressing his cheek again. Sehun was scared, he had to think fast.

“Your cousin” Sehun suddenly said. “He is investigating your death. He knows who killed you”

“My… my cousin?” Minseok presence disappeared and his body materialized in front of Sehun “Do you mean…”

“Junmyeon” Sehun confirmed.

Minseok stayed silent, and then asked. “How old is he?”

“Probably almost thirty” Sehun said, and Minseok winced.

“Wow. He is older than me now, uh? I remember when he was only an annoying kid” Minseok said, and there was no anger or resentment, just sadness and melancholy in his voice.

It was then when Junmyeon entered, looking around, but obviously he only saw Sehun.

“Alright, is he here?” Junmyeon asked, his ears turning a little red probably due the fact that this was an insane situation.

“He is here” Sehun confirmed, looking at Minseok carefully. “We were just talking about you”

Minseok looked at the newcomer, and he didn’t seem like the scary ghost anymore, no. He was just like a lost kid, a man who had probably thought he wouldn’t see anyone he knew again, except for his own killer.

“Junmyeon?” Minseok softly asked. Obviously, Junmyeon couldn’t hear him. “Is that you’”

“Yes, it’s Junmyeon” Sehun said. “He doesn’t believe me, so… What do you want to ask him, Junmyeon?”

“I was five” Junmyeon started “It was my birthday, and your gift was the most meaningful thing to me. What did you give me, Minseok?” he sounded wary.

“A promise” Minseok whispered “That I would take you to the mountain for a whole weekend, just the two of us, and nature. You loved nature, but your parents were always busy and couldn’t take a weekend off, so I promised we would go, just us”

Sehun took a deep breath, noticing the regret in Minseok’s voice, and tried to rely that information to Junmyeon, who went from looking curious to just… broken.

“It’s true” he said, the sadness in his voice filling the classroom “He said that. He broke his promise, though, he never took me anywhere.”

“I’m so sorry” Minseok looked so sad, Sehun just wanted to go and hug him, even if he knew he shouldn’t. A soft breeze went through them, even when the windows were closed.

“He is sorry” Sehun said, remembering that Junmyeon couldn’t hear the ghost. “I… You must want to talk to him”

“Could I do that?” Junmyeon said.

Sehun took again a deep breath. This was something he had done just once, and with Jongin by his side. “I can… Minseok can use my body. He has to promise that he will leave before I’m too weak, or he will be expelled and it won’t be nice”

“Minseok, please” Junmyeon begged “You… You are trapped here, right? I need your help to solve the case?”

“I don’t…” Minseok hesitated.

“We want to help you, Minseok” Sehun closed his eyes “You just have to enter my body. Half hour would be enough… Please, let us help you”

He sensed Minseok, with his usual coldness, approaching him. A cold hand on his cheek, and then that familiar sensation of losing himself. He knew Minseok had took over his body, which was a weird sensation. He could hear voices, Junmyeon’s and his own; he could feel a hug, warm against the cold he was feeling.

Sehun opened his eyes, and he fell to the ground, his body too weak. He was back, it seemed, Minseok – in his ghost form again – by his side.

“Are you back?” Junmyeon asked, concerned “How are you feeling?”

“Just tired” Sehun smiled “Did you get what you needed?”

Junmyeon smiled. “My cousin, that bastard, he had evidence against him, about girls who he abused of… Professor Kwon knew, and that’s why he was killed. We don’t have new proof about his murder, but with Minseok’s evidence we can take him to court and then reopen Minseok’s case”

“Then you should go and work hard” Sehun said “Say goodbye to Minseok, Junmyeon, you are helping him to leave this world”

“I’m sorry it took so long, cousin” Junmyeon said “But justice will be done, I swear”

“Thank you” Minseok answered, his anger gone, replaced by something that was almost too similar to hope. “Really, thank you”

After that, Junmyeon fled, determined to find the evidence Minseok had told him about, and drag down Professor Kwon, leaving Minseok and Sehun alone.

Sehun was still sitting on the floor, finding it more comfortable than any chair, and Minseok just sat at his side. “Are you still thinking of killing me?” Sehun asked, half joking.

“I don’t know, would killing you allow you to accompany me to the other side?” Minseok answered, too serious.

“Minseok…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that” Minseok said, shooking his head. “It’s… You were the first people who spoke to me in years. And I- I threatened you, and instead of running away, you helped me. Why did you do it, Sehun?”

“It’s unfair” Sehun mumbled “That you were trapped here, and you couldn’t talk to anyone, couldn’t ask for help, you just had to endure it, knowing you were killed and the man was walking free.”

“Still…”

“I like to help” Sehun shrugged. It wasn’t only about helping Minseok per se, but preventing him from killing more people, trying to satiate his hunger for revenge. “And I’m the only person who is able to help fucking dead people, so I couldn’t just abandon you, the one who needed me the most.”

Minseok hugged him. It was weird because he wasn’t exactly completely consistent, and he was cold – as always. But Sehun didn’t mind the coldness this time, while he returned the hug.

“I’m sorry you had to die so young” Sehun whispered, not wanting to let him go.

“I’m scared” Minseok admitted “Of leaving this world”

“It’s okay to be scared” Sehun said, pulling apart a little “I’ll visit… Your grave. You won’t be here anymore, but you won’t be forgotten”

Like that, Minseok started to vanish. It was only evident to Sehun because he had seen a lot of ghosts vanish before, but he probably had only a few minutes left at most.

“Thank you again, Sehun” Minseok said “I feel… peace. I’m not angry anymore, I didn’t remember how it was to exist without anger”

Before Sehun could answer, Minseok grabbed his face, and kissed him in the lips, softly, just a chaste peck. Sehun could feel his eyes filling with tears, that gesture had more feeling and emotion than any kiss he had shared before.

“Goodbye, Minseok” he whispered.

Minseok smiled, and like that, he was gone. Sehun got up, sent a text to Jongin telling him that everything had gone alright and dialed a flower shop he knew. He had a grave to visit.


End file.
